After the initial test launch (and subsequent google indexation) I finally settled on a theme by Theme Lab called Purple Swirl and started poking around under the hood.  It looks nice and the php scripts are clean and well formed (aside from the oddly double-spaced lines of code).

While implementing some essential WordPress optimization, I installed the following plugins:

  • Google XML Sitemaps — Sitemaps are a key element of SEO, and this plugin makes updating and maintaining a sitemap easier than eating cake.
  • HeadSpace2 — This plugin does utilize the feckless Keywords Meta Tag; however, the unparalleled title and meta description tag management offered by this plugin makes John Godley deserving of a pass.
  • Redirection — Redirection allows me to easily manage and monitor 301 redirects and 404 page hits after making changes to my slugs (which I did twice after launch).
  • Robots Meta — Fresh out of the zip, WordPress is a duplicated-content-fun-house.  This plugin offers the easiest method of narrowing the search engines’ scope of the site.
  • SEO Friendly Images — I try to be particular about my images’ attributes, but if I miss something this plugin adds them for me.  Can’t beat it.
  • SEO Slugs — When I first designed my URL structure, I wanted something like “full-title-in-the-url.html” However, this plugin strips the stop-words from the slug which looks nicer and apparently offers a small SEO boost (I repeat small, but what the hell?).
  • WordPress Database Backup — I perform regular backups of my databases without this plugin.  Only Morons and Lazies don’t back up their data. The plugin provides a second layer of protection by emailing me weekly sql backups of the blog.  It does this automatically with minimal configuration, so that’s nice.
  • WP-SpamFree — Akismet filters spam into a spam-box.  This plugin stops spam before it can be submitted. When the two are combined the world becomes a better place.
  • Yet Another Related Posts Plugin — I’ve never used this type of plugin or it’s ilk, but it seems like a better-than-average way to boost internal site linkage and reader retention.
  • Yoast Breadcrumbs — There are two fantastic reasons to offer breadcrumb navigation on blog posts:
    1. Google’s SERP Site Links and
    2. Google’s SERP Site Hierarchy Links

I have a thing for code indentation, but WordPress’ design makes it difficult to ensure that all of the final xhtml markup follows a perfect indentation structure.  While it would be too much of a pain to modify the indentation of  certain sections of the post body, I did take the time to hack the plugins and a few core WordPress scripts to force meta, link, script and title tags to follow a clean indentation. I’ll probably modify them further to achieve better grouping of these header tags.

I have a lot of plans for the design of the site, and I’ve begun the process of modifying the Purple Swirl Theme.  After installing jQuery I downloaded some free images from http://www.sxc.hu/ to use as categories in the sidebar and wrote some animation chains to add a nice overlay effect.  I also added my favorite design toy, Cufón.  I usually pick a beautiful, easy to read font for my headers.  For Anonymous Programmer I settled on Microsoft’s Consolas programming font as a quaint touch.

Over the coming months I’ll doubtlessly hack, slash, and modify the site further, so “stay tuned.”

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